Talked to a few more folks at CBS today and they indicated some of the same concerns that we discussed earlier.
Keeping in mind that if printed as a single, this panorama needs to be approx. 54 feet long by 8-9 feet high depending on the ceiling height. That's a tall order.
The main concern being the resolution of the original images and the number of images comprising the panorama. Since the viewing distance will be close, the original image needs to be at the upper limits of the resolution spectrum.
Close being a relative term as an 80' billboard is fine when viewed from 40' below, but unrecognizable when viewed from 5 feet away.
They suggested that in order to obtain such an image, it would need to be drum scanned from the original film negatives at the top resolution available. They didn't think it would be acceptable if the original images were digital to start with. The couldn't give me specific numbers as that would also depend on the printer technology, the substrate and the "pickiness" of the client...
Then, possibly, it would be feasible to reconstruct the panorama using a template for each panel incorporating the 9" of frame. Pretty labour intensive according to them. The panels may still need to be trimmed (cut) and possibly airbrushed to remove printer tracking marks, color corrections, etc.
They liked the idea, but weren't all that possitive about the feasibility of the project.
